HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — In the Tennessee Valley Authority River Forecast Center, employees work constantly monitoring the river levels and weather forecast. The National Weather Service plays an important role when the TVA puts together the river level forecasts.
“We use their meteorologists to get our precipitation forecast. We use that forecast to then put that over our reservoir through our modeling systems to determine how much water is going to end up in the reservoirs,” says Ben Heath, River Forecast Center Operations Support Manager for the TVA.
No two flood events are the same
The dams along the river were built to handle large river flows and flooding. Even if rain doesn’t fall in North Alabama, flooding along the Tennessee River will be possible. All the excess water upstream flows down into North Alabama.
“During a flood event, you are going to have more water than the generators can handle; therefore, you have spillway gates,” added Heath…